Changchun is a city in northeast China's Jilin Province, known for bleak winters and heavy industry, but here Makonde sculpture is easily found. The Makonde are an ethnic group living along the Tanzania-Mozambique border. The group's woodcarving is referred to as the grandfather of modern African wood sculpture. They depict the group's fears and hopes, their spirituality and mysticism, religion and superstitions.

Located at the Changchun World Sculpture Park, the Songshan-Hanrong African Art Collection Museum houses 12,000 pieces of African art work, all donated by Li and Han. It's nearly their entire collection; it took them three decades to accumulate.

"It was like marrying off our own daughter," Han said. "It was hard, but you still want her to end up with someone good, someone who deserves her."

The couple's connection withTanzaniabegan in the late 1960s, when they were sent by the Chinese Government to work there. During the time, they saw Makonde art for the first time. With one glimpse, they fell in love and began a lifelong devotion.

In the 1980s, they were recalled by the Chinese Government and moved back toChina. But after a short stay, they made a decision that surprised everyone. In 1990, Li and Han, then in their 40s, quit their promising jobs in governmental ministries, and leftChinaforTanzaniawith only $8,000 in their pockets. To be closer to the source of Makonde art, the couple decided to settle down inTanzania.

During the years they spent there, they collected tens of thousands of African sculptures and Tinga Tinga paintings. They pored over the artwork with meticulous detail, analyzing and categorizing them and publishing academic research. Due to their contributions to the understanding of African artwork, the Tanzania Arts Council honored them with the title of "Doctors of African Culture and Art."

Another dream

After having settled inTanzania for more than a decade, the two felt a strong desire to introduce Makonde Art to their homeland. In 2003, Li and Han donated 547 Makonde carvings to Changchun, a city where African culture was nearly unheard of at the time. There, the woodcarvings soon gained fame, and tourists and professionals became increasingly intrigued by the art. Encouraged by the achievement, in 2008 Li and Han packed their collection into four containers and shipped them toChina.

"Bringing them back to China and donating them, the whole process was  laborious and full of difficulties. But we know our roots are inChina. We love the country, so we hope to see more Chinese people benefit from African culture and art," Li said.

The museum, which bears their name in remembrance of the couple's contribution, opened to the public in 2011. It's notable as the first museum in China focused on foreign artwork. Meanwhile, it's also the world's largest Makonde art museum.

"Songshan-Hanrong is not only a symbol of us. I hope it can also represent the first generation of Chinese working in Africa," Li said. "People like us spent their life and made strenuous efforts on promoting China-Africa communication and friendship, because we take it as our dream."

When people hailed the museum in Changchunas a perfect ending for the couple's lifetime connection with African culture, Li and Han, in their 70s and 60s, were drafting a new plan - building an African culture center in China's capital.

The idea was actually conceived in 2005. In that year, four Tanzanian sculpture masters died. Li and Han felt a deep sorrow. They were intimate friends with the masters, and their deaths marked an end to a period of flourishing Tanzanian artwork that lasted nearly 50 years. Soon, they made a decision to move back to China, where the masters' brilliant artwork could be appreciated by more people.

In 2007, they bought  land in Songzhuang, an artistic zone in aBeijingsuburb, and planned to use it to build their dream project - the African Village. But in the same year, Li was diagnosed with colon cancer. Insisting on finishing the project, he began to commute between construction site and hospital. Han was supportive from the start, knowing how important the project was to her husband.

"All I ask is several more years so that I can see its completion," Li said. "It's not our personal property but a belonging ofChina, of future generations devoted to promoting African culture and art and China-Africa friendship."

African village

To now, parts of the African Village project have been completed, and have become the accommodation for theTanzanian deputy minister of culture and the wives of eight African diplomats. They say the village is just like their second home.

"There will be an auditorium for African officials, African scholars and Chinese experts on African studies to give speeches about African economies and cultures," Li said. According to Li, the auditorium will also function as a museum with an exhibition of African arts. It will also house a movie theater to show African movies and a restaurant featuring African-style dishes.

The four buildings around the auditorium include an African art research center based on cooperation with universities in Beijing, a clinic of volunteer doctors to serve African diplomats and students in Beijing, and a publishing house to work for Chinese scholars and those giving speeches in the auditorium.

What Li is most proud of is an art studio themed "Africa in the Chinese eye." Li said that Chinese artists can work here to design industrial products, such as furniture, with African elements. He believed that Chinese artists can draw inspiration from African arts to develop Chinese art.

They also established the Makonde Art Institute at the Jilin College of Arts, where Li was appointed as an honorary professor, supervising graduate students working on Makonde art theory.

"Families and friends think we are out of our minds every time we make major decisions like this. But, life is not about what you have but what you can give. To foster more Chinese interest in the culture and art of that beautiful land is the best thing we can give." Li said.